Kantai Collection - The Pacific Alliance
by DayDream Jedi
Summary: Until now Japan's ship girls have had to stand alone against the threat of the Abyssal fleet. But the tide is turning and ship girls from other countries have now come to the Pacific. Katsuragi, the newest carrier in the Japanese fleet finds herself assigned to the base built around this new coalition. But can an entire alliance of nations stop the darkness that is to come?
1. 1st Sortie

**1ST SORTIE**

Katsuragi felt the wind spray in her face as she skated across the rich blue water of the Pacific Ocean and loved every second of it. Just one month had passed since she had found her fellow Kanmusu or "Ship Girls," and she had already received her first big assignment. She was traveling with Houshou, the venerable mother of the Japanese carriers and a Destroyer escort of the 6thDesDiv to a new naval base that had been established here in the Pacific to combat the mysterious creatures that the kanmusu had been summoned to fight. The Japanese had been the first to name them: Shinkaiseikan. The Abyssal Fleet. No one knew where they came from, besides the general assumption of 'the ocean depths,' but one thing was for sure, they were the enemies of mankind.

Some looked like monsters, others seemed like kanmusu themselves, they nevertheless possessed an immunity to conventional weapons that forced the militaries of the world to scramble for new tactics as the Abyssals claimed the oceans and all ocean-based commerce and travel ceased. Then a breakthrough; the discovery of the Ship Girls, who seemed to be the Abyssal's opposites in a way. Japan had been the first to field them, with other countries quickly following suit. Now the fight against the Abyssals had turned enough, at least here in the Pacific, that the countries with enough kanmusu to fight had gathered here at this remote base to hopefully finish the fight against this mysterious enemy.

Now Katsuragi could see the base in the distance as they closed on it at about 20 knots. her happiness subsided just a bit, mingled with nervous anticipation. Not only were some of Japan's best kanmusu stationed here, there were also representatives from five other countries as well. Initially, the countries with the most kanmusu had been Japan, the United States and Great Britain but gradually France, Germany and Italy had been catching up. There were even rumors of the Russians and Chinese having made some ship girls but those were unsubstantiated.

Katsuragi's nervousness was partly because of having to meet and work with these gaijin (foreign) ship girls but also her own comrades. She hadn't had the time to get to know many kanmusu before she'd left and now she was assigned to a bustling base where there would be many of them. It was just a little daunting.

"Katsuragi-chan! Please try to keep up. We're almost there!" called Houshou. To Katsuragi's slight chagrin, she only now saw that he'd been lagging behind the elder carrier.

* * *

Now that they were closer to the island the base was situated on, Katsuragi could make out more of the details. A concrete bulwark had been constructed along the side of beach they were sailing towards and had a wide row of stairs built into them, leading down into the water. Behind those were a row of pre-fabricated hangers that Katsuragi guessed was where the kanmusu deployed from. Behind those buildings, Katsuragi could see a neat sprawl of other buildings, some of which looked like they were still under construction.

On the top of the pier's steps, they could see a white-haired figure waving to them. Dressed in a modified Miko uniform and an armored muneate, Katsuragi instantly recognized her as Shoukaku, a fleet carrier kanmusu of the 5th Carrier Division and one of her seniors. In point of fact, as the newest standard carrier in the Japanese fleet, all of the carriers, including Taihou and Katsuragi's own sisters were her 'sempai.'

They sailed up to the steps and, without missing a beat, stepped from the water's surface up the steps to meet Shoukaku. The white-haired carrier clasped hands with Houshou, although she lost a bit of her composure and let out a sort of "meep!" sound when Houshou suddenly pulled her into a hug.

"I'm glad to see you are doing well, Shoukaku-chan," said Houshou.

"Uh, yes, Zuikaku and I are doing very well," replied Shoukaku, still a little discombobulated from the hug. She turned to Katsuragi.

"And you must be Unryuu and Amagi's little sister that I've heard so much about," she said, also clasping hands with Katsuragi, "They will be so pleased to see you."

"Where are Unryuu-nee-san and Amagi-nee-san?" asked Katsuragi, glancing over Shoukaku's shoulders to see if they were coming.

"They're in a debriefing, I'm sure they'll come see you as soon as they're out," replied Shoukaku, smiling warmly.

"And Zuikaku-san is here as well?"

"Yes, she is. I hear you've been wanting to meet your idol for a while now!" Shoukaku said, with a grin and and a wink. Katsuragi immediately flushed pink while the 6thDesDiv girls traded knowing looks.

Shoukaku greeted the 6thDesDiv girls next. She then began to show them around the base. It had indeed been newly constructed and was about 90% complete. The alliance of nations that had collaborated to build it had chosen an island that was itself deserted but close to some inhabited islands, both so that ship girls could guard convoys that came through that area and so that ship girls and base personnel alike could have somewhere to go on liberty. Most of the buildings had been constructed out of materials on the island, as it was still difficult for large transports to be successfully escorted across the oceans. These took the form of huts, dorms and the like made out of bamboo and other island wood, thatch and palm tree roofs. They were surprisingly water-tight and of course had been provided with air conditioning units to stave off the heat and humidity. There were some pre-fab units, mostly used for hangars, storage and the "docks" where kanmusu were repaired and the arsenal. The only building that had already been there when the base had begun to be built was an old colonial-style house, built on a small hill. Apparently the island had been a stopover point for trading many, many decades ago and this was the last remnant of that. It was supposed to be the Admirals' quarters and offices, but it needed a lot of work from having been abandoned for so many years.

There was also a training pool and training ranges set up for surface combat, Anti-Air combat, Anti-submarine warfare and Carrier training. Katsuragi was the most interested in this part of the base and was therefore pretty disappointed when no other carriers were there. The small party was just passing through the warehouse sector that stored the base's resources and equipment and other necessaries when they heard a raised voice from around a corner. Katsuragi, who had been the first of the group to round the corner, heard it too late and ran smack into the person coming the other way.

They both let out a startled, "oomph!" and collapsed to the ground, with Katsuragi falling flat on her butt. She shook her head few times to clear the disorientation and stared back at the person who had collided with her. She was obviously a ship girl, the rigging being a dead give-away, dressed in a blue coat that fastened down her right side with large brass buttons. The coat flared out below her waist, stopping just above the pair of navy socks she wore, tucked into typical "Ship Girl Shoes," shoes that resembled the hull of the ship they had once been, many of them with rudders for heels. Her midnight black hair spilled out in long black tresses from underneath a blue beret that had a tricolor, red, white and blue shield on it. The back-mounted rigging she wore included a flight deck mounted on her left side with the island assembly hugging the right side of her waist, indicating that she was a carrier. Her sea-green eyes glared back into Katsuragi's own.

"Fool! Watch where you are going!" she spat angrily, her voice carrying a strange accent Katsuragi had never heard before.

"Mon Dieu! Are you alright, Bearn?" asked one of the fallen ship girl's companions, who had bent down and began helping Bearn to her feet. She was dressed in a cream-colored jacket with a low-cut navy blouse underneath, a dark blue skirt. This was topped off by a beret as well but this one was cream as well with a red bobble on top. The third girl couldn't be anything other than a battleship, as if the two quadruple gun turrets with 15 inch barrels wasn't enough of a giveaway. This girl's outfit was very similar to Atago's but colored white with gold trim and double-breasted with two rows of brass buttons. She also had a blue sash, bordered in red running from right to left across her torso, and a shining leather belt with a brass buckle worn across her hips that had an officer's saber attached to it, sheathed in a scabbard made of the same shining leather and brass. This battleship girl did not wear a beret and had her dark blue hair tied up in a knot at the top-back of her head, with spiky strands artfully flaring out from it. Her violet eyes were narrowed in disapproval at the group of Japanese ship girls; clearly this battleship wasn't fond of the interruption either.

"I will be fine once I get this dirt of my clothes and rigging," grumbled the one called Bearn.

By this time, Fubuki and Houshou had helped Katsuragi back up as well. She was about to apologize to the foreign ship girl when she cut in again.

"You! What is your name?"

"I'm Katsuragi. I've just arrived here," she replied politely but with her impression of this foreign ship girl dimming every second.

"Well you should watch where you are going in the future!" replied Bearn haughtily, which only served to shorten Katsuragi's temper.

"Well maybe you should not hug the corners so tightly in the future!" she snapped back.

"Katsuragi," said Houshou in a low tone, clasping the younger carrier girl's elbow

The foreign girl looked like she was about to launch into a full blown argument but the battleship girl that had been with them fixed her with an imperious stare and said, "Bearn, Teste, we have places to be and things to do. Come along."

With a last imperious look from Bearn, the trio took off.

* * *

Before anything else could happen, a new voice called out to the group.  
"Oy! Shoukaku-san!"

Katsuragi turned and saw a tall, dark-haired, fair-skinned man dressed in blue navy digital camo fatigues jogging towards them. By his accent they instantly pegged him as an American, although Katsuragi was somewhat surprised that he had added the honorific to Shoukaku's name.

"Shoukaku! Glad I caught you, Admiral Kawashima just finished debriefing Unryuu and Amagi and wants you to get prepped for deployment with them and the 2ndCarDiv."

"Thank you for letting me now," replied Shoukaku, with a slight bow, "But I'm surprised that you are delivering the message, Admiral."

Upon hearing this, the other girls immediately went to attention, as that was protocol, even when being addressed by a foreign flag officer.

"Oh I was already out and about. Indianapolis has gone to earth again and the others are raising hell so I thought I'd help find her."

"Well then, I'll head out. Admiral, can you take Houshou and the other up to the command building?"

"My pleasure," replied the American Admiral with a rakish grin.

Shoukaku said her farewells, receiving another hug from Houshou and the little group set off again, towards the old colonial house.

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself," said the American Admiral, "I'm Admiral Samuel J. Kirk, commander, US Navy Pacific Allied Taskforce. I know Houshou-san by reputation," he said, giving her as much of gentlemanly bow as he could while walking, "And you four are the famous 6thDesDiv, right?"

That pronouncement cause all four sisters to go wide-eyed.

"You've heard of us in America?" asked Ikazuchi.

"Oh yeah, you've got quite a following. Something about, 'cutest Destroyers in the world.'"

That pleased Ikazuchi, Inazuma and Hibiki to no end but Akatsuki grumbled, "I'd prefer to be thought of as a splendid lady…"

"Although… you must forgive me, I don't know who you are, miss…?" Admiral Kirk asked, looking inquisitively at Katsuragi.

"I'm Fleet Carrier Katsuragi, third of the Unryuu-class! Um.. sir!" she said, puffing out her chest with pride.

"Ah, so _you're_ Unryuu and Amagi's little sister, that was coming from Japan, right?"

"Yes sir! This is my first major assignment!"  
"Well with an attitude like that, I'm sure you'll do very well," replied Admiral Kirk gracefully, "And here we are!"

They had stopped just outside the front porch of the house and now that they were close up, the peeling paint and splintered woodwork where much more obvious. But as soon as Admiral Kirk showed them through the front door, the newly-arrived ship girls could see that the interior had clearly been worked on first. There was some wear and tear still visible but fresh coats of paint had been applied, cobwebs cleaned out and the whole place smelled faintly of PineSol. Kirk then led off the entrance hall, past the stairs to the upper floor and to a suite of rooms that had nameplates fastened over them. They stopped at the door marked—

 **ADMIRAL KEIKO KAWASHIMA**

 **JMSDF**

 **CMD. 1ST EXPD. FLEET**

Kirk was about to say something when a ship girl with flaming red hair appeared at the end of the hall behind him and called out, "Admiral! Indianapolis is making a run for it again!

"Ah well, duty calls ladies. Besides, I don't need to lead you any further. Have fun with Admiral Kawashima." He executed a short bow and then turned and ran off with the red-haired ship girl. Katsuragi couldn't help but stare after the pair as they rounded a corner and disappeared from sight, so much so that she didn't even notice Houshou knocking on Admiral Kawashima's door and then opening it to allow the other girls to go in.

"Katsuragi? The Admiral is waiting for us," she said gently.

"Oh! Right! Um, Houshou-san, who was that ship girl that Admiral Kirk ran off with? I had a strange feeling from her…"

Houshou laughed softly at that, "Oh her? I'm not surprised you said that, lots of our kanmusu feel that way around The Grey Ghost."

* * *

Admiral Keiko Kawashima was seated at her desk when Katsuragi and Houshou came in through the door.

Katsuragi, still somewhat surprised by the fact that she had just seen Enterprise herself at the base, didn't take notice of Keiko until she let loose with a wild cry and actually _vaulted_ over her desk, grinning wildly, and flung her arms open, gathering up the Akatsuki sisters in one massive bear hug.

"My little 6thDesDiv has finally come back to me!" she cried in a very kawaii-tone of voice.

"This, this is not how proper ladies greet each other!" spluttered Akatsuki

"Squishing! Nanodesu!" cried Inazuma.

"Tight," grunted Hibiki

"Admiral, I'm here for you so you don't need to hug so tight!" exclaimed Ikazuchi.

This did nothing to deter Admiral Kawashima, who actually did a pirouette, the girls still clutched tightly to her, before starting to cuddle them a bit more.

Katsuragi, for her part, just blinked numbly at the scene. This was supposed to be her new Admiral?

"Admiral?" said Houshou in a sort of false falsetto, accompanied by a rather frightening smile, that immediately caused Keiko to put the Akatsuki sisters back down on the floor. She smoothed out her white uniform, coughed once into her fist and then… to Katsuragi it was like her entire personality had shifted and suddenly there was a person in the room that could only be described as The Admiral. Keiko stepped forward and clasped her hands with Houshou and smiled warmly at her, much different from the wild joy she'd shown earlier.

"Houshou-san, it's wonderful to see you again. The fleet can only benefit from your experience, especially with all the new carriers that have arrived."

"New carriers?" said both Houshou and Katsuragi at once, Katsuragi voicing more surprise than her senior.

"Yes, carriers in the plural," replied Keiko brightly. "Your orders changed slightly while you were en route. The other flotillas at this base have received some extra ship girls as well, which brings the total number of new fleet carriers here to four, you Katsuragi, the Italian carrier Aquila, the German carrier Graf Zeppelin and the French carrier Bearn. And before I forget…" Admiral Kawashima moved over to stand in front of Katsuragi and saluted her. Katsuragi returned the salute, a little surprised because protocol dictated that ship girls and subordinates were supposed to salute an Admiral first.

"Let me formally welcome you to Pacific Allied Naval Command's Sentinel Base."

Katsuragi returned the Admiral's salute sharply, a bright, fierce smile on her face.

"Fleet Carrier Katsuragi! Reporting for duty, Admiral!"


	2. 2nd Sortie

**2ND SORTIE**

 ** _A/N: AT LAST! A new chapter! I can't remember right off the top of my head (or in edit mode) when I originally posted this but it's been a while. But now, Katsuragi's journey finally continues! Get ready for friends, rivals, enemies, secrets and combat on the high seas... as soon as Katsuragi gets through her training. ;)_**

Katsuragi stumbled into the classroom, panting like a racehorse. She had been worried that she would be late for this first day of her training as a fleet carrier, so she been going hell bent for leather from her quarters to here. Glancing around the classroom, she saw that the other new carriers had arrived before her but Houshou-san wasn't there yet. She'd made it!

Katsuragi flung open the door and dashed through, causing the three ship girls that were already there and seated to turn around and look at her. After catching her breath, Katsuragi was able to get a good look at the classroom. The ad-hoc classroom that was going to be used for their training was really just a quonset hut that been cleared out and provided with six single desk and an office desk up front. A black board and white board had been mounted on the wall behind the front desk and looked brand new. Seeing the carrier Bearn that she'd run into yesterday, Katsuragi deliberately chose to seat herself next to a red-haired girl dressed in white and red, which was as far away from the French carrier as possible.

"Did you sleep in a bit?" asked the red-haired girl, with another kind of accent that Katsuragi wasn't familiar with.

"No, I just took a little extra time to get myself ready, so I thought I might be late if I didn't hurry," she explained. Out of the corner of her eye, Katsuragi noticed the French girl scowling at her.

It was then that Houshou, dressed in her usual salmon-colored kimono and navy hakama walked in, a bright smile on her face.

"Good morning, everyone!" she said and the four girls chorused the greeting back to her. Houshou moved behind the desk at the front of the room but did not yet sit down.

"I have been asked by the Admirals and commanders here at the base to give you your first instructions in combat as an aircraft carrier ship girl. Before any of that though, I would like to get to know you all just a little bit. I'm also told that all of you have brought aircraft with you; I'd like to see those as well. Katsuragi, I already know what you brought with you, so let's have you introduce yourself to the others first."

Katsuragi practically shot out of her chair and to the front of the room, very pleased to be the first to be called on and thrilled to show off her planes. She'd never been able to fight with aircraft in the Old War, so she was welling with enthusiasm to finally have aircraft of her own.

"I'm Katsuragi, third ship of the Unryuu-Class carriers. I was born in Kure Naval Arsenal on January 19, 1944, originally. I didn't get to fight much at all in the old war, unfortunately, due to various circumstances and I may a bit slower than my sisters, Unryu-nee and Amagi-nee, but I can still carry 65 aircraft! I'm very much looking forward to fighting as part of the carrier task forces," she said, feeling very pleased with herself at the last part about her aircraft capacity.

"Didn't you spend most of the war on stationary anti-aircraft duty?" asked the French girl with a notable drawl. Katsuragi scowled at her.

"Yes, I did, but I also served as repatriation transport as well. Besides, I'm still a proper standard carrier, no matter what role I served in," she snapped back.

"And every kanmusu needs to learn how to fight in her new form, no matter her ship type," added Houshou, gently, "Katsuragi, what planes have you brought with you?"

Katsuragi smirked and set the three arrows she had brought up front with her on the desk. She waved her hand over them and the ends of the arrows, which had plane-plane-shaped shikigami attached to them burst into green flame and then, with a bright flash, were replaced by a trio of model-sized airplanes, paint gleaming in the fluorescent light.

"The first is the Reppu, the new standard carrier fighter that was supposed to replace the Zero."

She held it up in front of her, moving it slightly side to side so that the other three carrier girls could get a good look at it. The Reppu's fairy, clad in pilot togs, proudly stood astride the left wing of her plane.

"The Reppu was larger than the Zero but still had excellent maneuverability and a top speed of 390 miles per hour. It has a pair of 13.2mm machine guns in the wings as well two 20mm cannons. Next is the Ryuusei Kai, an advanced variant of the new Carrier attack plane, primarily used as a torpedo bomber but also capable of dive-bombing as well. And lastly, these are my pride and joy, the Saiun recon planes. No Grumman could catch them!" she said with pride as she showed the remaining two aircraft to her classmates. She thought she detected a snort of disbelief coming from a certain carrier girl but chose not to comment on it; she was in too much of a good mood.

"Thank you for that, Katsuragi," said Houshou, "Now, Aquila, would you please introduce yourself and your planes?"

The red-haired girl next to Katsuragi got up and came to the front. She laid a pair of arrows with standard tips on the desk before turning to face the other girls.

"My name is Aquila and I come from the land of pasta, Italy! I was originally born in February, 1926 as an ocean liner but work started on converting me into a carrier at Cantieri Ansaldo, Genoa, in November, 1941. I was the first aircraft carrier for my country, although I was never actually completed in time for combat and was actually scuttled in harbor. But I really think I can be of use to this fleet now that I've been reborn as a ship girl! I only came with one kind of plane, the Reggiane RE.2001 OR Kai."

She turned back to the arrows, waved her hand over them, much as Katsuragi did and they burst into flames, revealing a pair of sleek, light blue and white-colored fighters. Katsuragi leaned forward to get a better look; she wouldn't say it out loud but the Italian fighters looked very nice.

"They can get up to a top speed of 337mph and have 4 machine guns; two 12.7mm guns in the cowling and two 7.7mm guns in the wings. They can also carry a 600kg bomb if need be."

"Thank you Aquila. Now, let's have Graf-san introduce herself."

Aquila retrieved her planes and sat down as the blond-haired girl next to her, opposite of Katsuragi, got up and came to the front. Unlike Katsuragi or Aquila, she didn't bring any arrows with her, instead she laid two metallic cards on the desk. She about-faced sharply and came to precise attention.

"Greetings. I am the Aircraft Carrier Graf Zeppelin, born in Kiel in December 1938, the first aircraft carrier constructed by Germany. However, I was never fully completed and like Aquila and Katsuragi, I never saw combat. My planes are top-of-the-line however, as you will see."

She waved her hand over the two small cards on the decks and in a flash of light, they had become planes.

"This is the Messerschmitt Bf-109 T Kai, a navalized version of my country's most successful fighter," she said, indicating the plane she held in her right hand. It was gray and blue camouflage-patterned on top and white underneath and Katsuragi was fairly impressed with its lines.

"This is the Junkers Ju-87C dive bomber, again a navalized version of a famous Luftwaffe dive bomber. It had excellent results in the early part of the war," she said, indicating the plane that was in her left hand. this one was painted in a green scheme and to Katsuragi looked very similar to the Japanese Aichi 'Val' dive bomber with its cowled landing gear but differed with its bent wings.

"I hope to be able to use these planes to become a valuable part of this international fleet," said Graf, in conclusion.

"Thank you Graf-san, you may sit down," said Houshou, "Now, last but not least, let's have Bearn-san come up."

The French carrier girl who had been sitting next to Graf and furthest away from Katsuragi got up and came to the front. Katsuragi noticed that she seemed markedly furtive as she stood before them. Bearn laid a trio arrows that seemed much shorter than the ones that Aquila or Katsuragi used.

"I am the carrier Bearn of the French Marine Nationale. I was born in the Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée shipyard in La Seyne, in April 1920. It seems the four of us share the commonality of not being able to properly serve the countries we were built by; I was not able to see combat as intended, due to various circumstances."

Katsuragi noticed that Bearn's eyes briefly flickered towards Graf Zeppelin as she said that. Graf did not react at all.

"I was not even able to assist my comrades at Mers-el-Kebir or Dakar even…" she tailed off and seemed to be remembering something painful or was trying to psych herself up. After a pause, she started again, "The planes I have brought are these." She waved a hand over her arrows and they burst into flames, revealing the three planes.

Katsuragi couldn't help but grin slightly. She could tell, even without Bearn saying anything, that her planes were of a much older design than any of the planes that she and the others had brought.

"This first plane," Bearn said, holding a monoplane with an elevated wing, "is my Dewoitine D.373 fighter. It is a light aircraft with a quartet of machine guns to fight with. This," she said, showing them a biplane (a biplane!), "is my Levasseur PL.7 torpedo bomber." She said nothing further about it, opting instead to pick up the other biplane that had materialized from her arrows.

"Lastly, this is my Levasseur PL.10 reconnaissance plane, designed to scout of our fleet and obtain the enemy's position, both for the heavier ship's main guns and my bombers. Also to spot incoming enemy aircraft."

 _Well, no duh,_ thought Katsuragi, _that's about as plain and textbook a description of a recon plane as you can get._

"I hope to also become a valuable addition to this fleet," finished Bearn.

"Thank you Bearn, although I would like you to leave your planes up here on the desk. The rest of you bring yours as well," said Houshou. Katsuragi, Graf and Aquila deposited their planes on the desk and sat back down again along with Bearn.

"I almost feel a bit mean doing this but…" she paused and looked them straight in the eye, "For the next few weeks while you undergo your initial training… you will NOT be using these aircraft."

To their credit, the other three girls didn't show much outward sign or protest, but Katsuragi felt like she'd been hit right in the midships with a battleship shell. She'd finally been given aircraft and now they were being taken away?!

"Houshou-san! Why are—" she sputtered to stop as Houshou held up a hand.  
"You will be using planes, the designated training planes that we use here at this base."

From beneath the desk Houshou retrieved three different planes that were all painted in bright orange. Katsuragi gawked; the planes were an A5M/Type 96 fighter, a B4Y torpedo bomber and a D3A/Type 99 'Val' dive bomber.

"But Houshou-san!" Katsuragi couldn't help herself; she'd been very much looking forward to flying her Reppu. "Those are old—well, I mean, they're not as advanced as the planes most of the carriers have been using…" she tailed off as Houshou gave her a beatific smile that was somehow also extremely threatening.

"If you can't master the basics with these 'old' planes, I'm afraid you won't have what it takes to master the newer models."

Katsuragi wasn't quite sure she believed that but Houshou was the instructor so she had to bow to her wishes.

"Now, before we go any further, I need to show you the enemy you will be fighting. Follow me."

Without another word, Houshou turned and headed towards the door of the quonset hut-cum-classroom, with the four carrier girls following behind her. She led them across the base to another set of quonset huts that were being used as storage sheds. She stopped in front of one and took out a key that she used to unlock the heavy padlock fastening the door closed.

"Your enemy and the enemy of all humanity is here."

She flung the door open. Katsuragi could not see anything inside at first because no lights were on inside and the shed had no windows that could be used for light. But then a roiling stench billowed up out of the open doorway and Katsuragi reflexively gagged and clapped her hands over her mouth and nose. The smell was cacophony of scents that swirled and coiled together into one wholly vile reek. Katsuragi could pick out the smells of scorched steel, charred meat, burnt oil, the copper sting of blood and the acrid odor of used gunpowder all in that lungful she had sucked in. Her stomach clenched and for a moment she thought she was going to eject all of her breakfast from her stomach. The other ship girls didn't look any better; even the stoic Graf looked green around the gills and Bearn had turned away from the door and looked as if she were going to try and run for it.

"Don't turn away!" snapped Houshou, sharply. "You still haven't truly seen your enemy yet."

She reached in and flipped on a light switch, bathing the interior of the shed in harsh white light. There was only a single table inside the shed and upon it sat what at first Katsuragi took for nothing more than a lump of scorched, twisted metal and meat.

"Inside, all of you," commanded Houshou. Obediently, they filed in, Aquila and Bearn still holding their hands over their mouths and noses.

Now that Katsuragi could get a better look at it, she realized she had seen a picture of this monstrosity before.

"It's an I-class destroyer, isn't it?" she asked, again trying to gag on the acrid air.

"It is. It sank in shallow water and we were able to retrieve it with the help of Akashi and the sub girls. Believe me, they didn't like it any better than you do. This is only one of the enemies you will be facing when you are sent into battle against the Abyssal Fleet. And this is also to acclimate your new human senses to what they will be experiencing. Some of you may have very clear and sharp memories of what happened to you in your previous existence in the Old War. But experiencing war, death and destruction with human senses… is a completely different matter."

Katsuragi could see what Houshou meant; now that she was finally used to the stench coming off the dead I-class, or as used to it as she was going to get, she didn't feel as much like retching as before and she even had the courage to walk up to the I-class corpse and look into its dead eye.

 _"Corpse. Yes, that would be the word for this… thing. It's not just a broken hull that's been left to rot in the depths of the ocean. It is, WAS, a living thing once. At least i think it was living?"_ she thought as she looked at the single 5 inch cannon (but not actually a 5 inch gun) protruding from the dead Abyssal's mouth.

"I also show you this because I will not just be instructing you how to fight as aircraft carrier ship girls but in everything you need to know about our enemy. Now, I think we could all do with some fresh air, couldn't we?" said Houshou, smiling brightly despite the cloying reek.

The four new ship girls were more than happy to get out of the noxious shed and took deep lungfuls of clean air now that they were outside.

"So that's an Abyssal destroyer?" said Graf, "I hope they don't smell like that when they're actually sailing."

"Ugh, it was completely gross," was Aquila's opinion

"Well, it didn't bother me too much," said Bearn, haughtily, tossing a strand of her behind her ear. Katsuragi gave her a dark look.

"Oh really? Then why did I see you in there looking like you were about to blow your breakfast all over the floor, eh?" Bearn returned Katsuragi's look with one of her own.

"I don't think you are one to talk, Japon. You looked greener than the Sargasso Sea; honestly it's more surprising that _you_ weren't vomiting in there."

Aquila and Graf for their part were staying out of the developing argument, preferring to study the rather fascinating cloud formations.

"Oh? Trying to turn things around on me, Ms. _old and decrepit carrier planes?"_ hissed Katsuragi through clenched teeth. Red flared across Bearn's cheeks and she narrowed her eyes in fury at Katsuragi.

"What a witty retort from a ship who's greatest contribution was as a glorified _passenger liner that never launched a single plane."_

Katsuragi felt her own cheeks flushing and she took an angry step towards Bearn, intending on teaching the arrogant French carrier just how well she could fight without planes when, suddenly, a voice called out: "Ara! It's time for a pop quiz! What's the best way to avoid dive-bombing planes?" said Houshou as the whine of propellers and engines came from above.

Katsuragi and Bearn looked up just in time to see some orange-painted model 21 Zeroes come barreling out of the glare of the sun… headed right for them! They realized this fact in the same moment as the planes opened up with their guns, peppering them with bullets. From an outsider's point of view, it looked like the two ship girls were being showered with tiny streaks of light, not something that would seem to hurt much but to Katsuragi and Bearn, it felt exactly like being struck by real 7.7 and 20mm gunfire. The two of them shrieked in pain and tried to run out of the way but instead slammed right into each other and fell unceremoniously flat onto their backs. Standing above where the two defeated ship girls lay, Houshou surveyed the damage her training planes had wrought.

"Ara, looks like we'll have to practice evasion quite thoroughly. If those weren't training rounds you'd need a good long soak in the docks. Remember, carriers don't have the same kind of armor that battleships or even heavy cruisers have."

Katsuragi, for her part, groggily looked up at her teacher with wild, staring eyes. Houshou had the beatific smile again, the one that seemed to hide a dark, killing intent.

"Scary," she mumbled, "Way too scary."

—

Later on, after Houshou had essentially forced Bearn and Katsuragi to apologize to each other and had dismissed the class for the day, Houshou had told Katsuragi to report to the carrier's barracks because there was something that the other carrier's had wished to show her.

The carrier's barracks was a beach longhouse, constructed out of palm and other native woods, with the familiar thatched roof but with a few modern convinces such as pre-fab windows and doors. Upon walking in, Katsuragi nearly jumped out of her skin as several loud POPS! went off; she thought she was getting strafed again!

"Congratulations!" cried the six carrier girls in the room. Two of them, Souryuu and Hiryuu were holding a large banner which had the word 'Congratulations' written on it in brightly painted kanji while Shoukaku, Zuikaku, Unryuu and Amagi set off party crackers and noisemakers. A large variety of food had been set out on the low table around which the carrier girls stood.

Katsuragi blinked for a moment or two, still stunned by the surprise but then she grinned widely and flung herself at her older sisters. She hadn't been able to see them up until now because they had come back to the carrier's quarters long after Katsuragi had gone to sleep last night. Unfortunately, she tripped part way through and instead of flinging her arms around Unryuu and Amagi's necks, she slammed straight into their chests… their rather large and bouncy chests.

 _Uuuu, I still have a long way to go,_ she groaned inwardly. That was forgotten though as her sisters helped her back to her feet and gave her proper hugs.

"It's so wonderful to see you, Katsuragi!" said Amagi, tears threatening to leak from her eyes.

"Yes, It feels so… incredible to have us sisters reunited like this," said Unryuu.

"Well, there might be an even bigger reunion in the future," said Katsuragi, a conspiratorial grin on her face. She then leaned in and whispered something to her sisters that caused them both to gasp in shock.

"Heeeeey, what's all this whispering? Aren't you going to greet us too, Katsuragi?" asked Souryuu, playfully.

"Oh right! I'm so sorry, sempai!" responded a flustered Katsuragi, casting a glance at Zuikaku. Souryuu giggled again.

"Oh you don't have to be all formal just yet, Katsuragi. This is a party after all!"

Even so, Katsuragi still introduced herself to each of the other ship girls, although everyone couldn't help but giggle a bit when Katsuragi became extremely flustered when she greeted Zuikaku and stumbled all over her words. It was a poorly kept secret that Katsuragi considered Zuikaku her carrier idol.

Later, after copious amounts of alcohol and food had been consumed (not a particularly good idea, even for a welcoming party; for a variety of reasons almost all ship girls did not hold liquor well. At all.), the conversation had turned to carrier planes and Katsuragi's disappointment that Houshou wouldn't be letting her use stuff like the Reppu.

"Weeeelll, that's just Houshou for you," drawled Hiryuu, "But don't worry, you'll be flying all different kinds of planes soon enough. Hey, you might even get to fly…" it took a moment for Katsuragi to realize that Hiryuu had paused for dramatic effect rather than because she had drunkenly tailed off, "some American and British planes. Maybe some German ones too."

"Why would I use foreign planes?" Katsuragi asked, the alcohol rapidly beginning to cloud her thoughts.

"Because the Admirals and commanders here have put the aircraft and most -hic- equipment on base into a pool system. It's mostly a first come, first served deal although sometimes they will sometimes make specific aircraft assignments," said Shoukaku.

Zuikaku snorted derisively, her cheeks bright red from the alcohol.

"Like hell I'm using any American planes! Especially from that bitch Enterprise!" slurred Zuikaku, angrily waving a bottle of sake around.

"Now now, Nee-chan, we're all allies now and have to work together," replied her sister in a sort of sing-song tone."

"Allies? Don't give me that. If that's so true then how come they got a super secret shipment of carrier planes in the last air drop and they won't let the rest of us see or touch 'em?"

"New planes?" asked Katsuragi, perking up.

"Yeah, but like I said, I dunno what they even are. I heard somethin' about X5 or… or I dunno! All I do know is, I ain't gonna lose to any damn Gray Ghosts! YA HEAR THAT, GHOST! I A'INT GONNA LOSE! I AIN'T… gonna… lose…" Zuikaku tailed off as her color rapidly changed from red to green and she suddenly bolted for the nearest trash bin and began vomiting into it, Shoukaku scrambling over to rub her back. Hiryuu began laughing until she too turned green around the gills and sunk out of sight behind the table. For her part, Katsuragi could feel her mental image of Zuikaku crumbling a bit.

She gazed down at the bottle of sake that Zuikaku had dropped then back up at her sisters and fellow kanmusu. Souryuu was crawling on all fours around the table to where Hiryuu had vanished, Zuikaku was now dry-heaving into the trash bin with Shoukaku still rubbing her back, who had now been taken by an attack of hiccups and Katsuragi's sisters were sprawled nearby, half-unconscious. Katsuragi directed a drunken glare at the sake bottle.  
"Sake is bad for ship girls," she mumbled. Katsuragi crawled over to where her sisters lay, a great weariness having suddenly descended on her. She curled up next to Unryuu and laid her head on her sister's chest.

"Unryuu-neeee, 'm gonna use you as pillows, m'kay?" she slurred. Unryuu didn't respond, except for the steady rhythm of her breathing. At last, Katsuragi closed her eyes and let herself drift away into the comfort of sleep.

 ** _A/N: I changed the USN admiral's name so that it wasn't too on the nose. Also changed the description of Richelieu since she was added to the game after this chapter came out. Also, I forgot to mention that when I came up with the very first iteration of this story, it was going to be Amagi who was the main character, not Katsuragi. That will tell you how old this story is. ;)_**

 ** _Why Katsuragi as our main MC instead of Fubuki or one of the other kanmusu? Eh, pretty much because I like carriers and Katsuragi is currently the newest, and therefore "youngest," IJN carrier currently in the game, although there are a few more Japanese carriers. Unryuu, Amagi and Katsuragi's little sisters Kasagi, Aso and Ikoma are three of them. Kasagi was 84% complete when the war ended and Aso and Ikoma were both 60% complete so I don't see why they couldn't be added. And then of course there's the ever-elusive Shinano. The long-standing rumor is that Shinano has been ready to go since late 2013 so it's anyone's guess when the devs will finally give her to us. I forsee two possibilities:_**

 ** _A) She'll be implemented when Kancolle Phase 2 is finally finished._**

 ** _B) She'll be used as a stop-gap when people finally start leaving the game in numbers sufficient to make DMM/Kadokawa nervous_**

 ** _But hey, that's just a theory, as that certain Youtube channel likes to say. ;)_**

 ** _Oh and of course, CVL Ibuki, who was originally going to be a heavy cruiser before she was converted._**

 ** _Hell, it's been so long since Pacific Alliance has been updated that we're now in Kancolle Phase 2! 720p! HD! Not really that much different from before! Well, hey, at least we have some english in it this time._**

 ** _What do you guys think of Nelson and the other new ship girls that were introduced in the last event? Don't worry, they'll be showing up soon. ;)_**


End file.
